Fr. Nascimento Mascarenhas

Fr. Nascimento Mascarenhas. Pic by Frederick Noronha

Most of the essays on Saligao Serenade have been authored by Fr Nascimento Jose Mascarenhas. A name familiar to readers of Renovaçao and other periodicals that cover events in the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman, Fr. Nascimento has written much on the history of the Catholic Church in Goa. The son of Ana Eufregina Lobo and Felipe Xavier Mascarenhas of Saligao, Goa, Fr. Nascimento obtained his early education at the Saligao Union School and the Mater Dei Institute.

Hearing the call of God, he joined the Minor Seminary of Saligao-Pilerne, where he completed the Humanities course. He studied Philosophy and Theology at the Patriarchal Seminary of Rachol in Goa and was ordained a priest on 26 April 1970 at St. Andrew’s Church in Vasco da Gama, Goa. He has served in various capacities at the churches of Panjim, Guirim, Sucaldem (Chinchinim), Porvorim, Baixo, Veroda, Mormugao Harbour, Penha de Franca, Rachol, Loutolim, Moira, Mapuca and Vasco da Gama.

Fr. Nascimento is endowed with special musical talents and has excelled as a singer and composer. His mando composition, Poilo Mog, bagged the first prize on the occasion of the 25th Mando Festival organised by the Goa Cultural and Social Centre. He also has a few religious compositions approved by the Diocesan Commission for Sacred Music.

Fr. Nascimento is passionate about history, especially Church history. He has contributed several articles of historical importance in Konkani for magazines such as Gulab and Goencho Avaz and the Diocesan Bulletin Renovaçao. He has also written six books: “Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom – from Goa to Lisboa”; “A Paean to an Ophthalmologist – Prof. Dr. Gama Pinto”, “Mormugao’s Rich Heritage” and, “Follow Me” (three volumes published thus far, covering the history of Goan Catcholic church parishes and their parish priests down the ages).

The essays featured on Saligao Serenade have been selected and edited by Val Souza, from the vast number of postings by Fr. Nascimento on the Saligaonet mailing-list since 2001 and additional material that he has written subsequently. Fr. Nascimento is currently based at the Holy Spirit Church in Margao, Goa. His Gmail id is najoma8. The sketches of Saligao featured on this website are courtesy Mel D’Souza. Several of the photos are from Frederick Noronha’s vast portfolio.

Val Souza

Valentine de Souza (who uses the pen name Val Souza) is a seasoned Indian Information Technology journalist with a unique combination of management, technical and communications skills and qualifications. Over the years Val founded and served as Editor of leading computer magazines and websites in the country, including Express Computer, Living Computers and Times Computing.

He received the prestigious Madhu Valluri Memorial “IT Journalist of the Year” award in 2002. In 2005 he successfully undertook a research fellowship at Cambridge University in UK to study the role of the media in helping bridge the digital divide.

Val Souza currently tracks the progress of the Indian computer industry and relevance of computer technology in the Indian context, and is an enthusiastic campaigner for the spread of computers and Internet usage in India, through his involvement with industry associations and the media. He has written extensively on the Indian IT industry and digital technology. Some of his Val Souza’s writing is archived on the Between the Bytes website.

Mel D’Souza

Mel D’Souza is a Canadian Goan living in Brampton, Ontario. He was born in Dar es Salaam, East Africa, the fourth child of Rosario and Julia Souza-Couth (Arrarim, Saligao). Mel spent four years (1948-1952) as a schoolboy in Mater Dei Institution, Saligao, when Goa was Portuguese territory.

He is a self-taught artist and cartoonist, a hobby he pursued throughout his working career and after his early retirement in 1993 when he took up writing. Since then, he has been an illustrator and columnist for Newfoundland’s Downhome Magazine that has a circulation of 50,000 in 18 countries. In 2001, Mel began to write and compile stories of his schooldays in Saligao, and had them published in a book entitled FEASTS, FENI and FIRECRACKERS for which he also did all the illustrations.

Mel has been a good friend of Fr Nascimento Mascarenhas ever since their first communication via e-mail in January, 2002. In his book, Mel’s stories of his personal experiences growing up in Saligao during the Portuguese era give the reader a unique perspective and better understanding of the history, customs, and traditions so comprehensively documented by Fr Nascimento in his essays.

Mel is also a seasoned traveller and avid photographer, and his pictures and illustrations appear on this website.

Fr Nascimento with Mel D'Souza : Dec 2005, Panjim